198 300
355
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(FRATERNAL ORDERS.) INDEPENDANT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.
Patriot 66 Lodge
(supplied title). 24 silver print photographic vignette portraits, mounted
on a large board, 16 x 20 inches; a couple of small chips to the board, the portraits with a
couple of small defects.
[Kansas City], circa 1900
[400/600]
While no particular location is indicated, two of the parties are holding banners that read “Patriot
66.” This refers to the Patriot 66 Order in Kansas City. One of the people pictured is wearing the
triangular Patriarchal Jewel. The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows is a fraternal order with roots
in the 18th century. The African American order was founded in 1843. Its first leader was a West
Indian named Peter Ogden.
356
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(FRATERNAL, CLUBS ETC.) NACIREMA CLUB.
Activities. Volume 1,
Number 1.
Single large 4to sheet, printed on both sides.
Detroit: Nacirema Club, 9 February, 1933
[400/600]
THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE FIRST BLACK SOCIAL CLUB IN MICHIGAN
.
The Nacirema (American, spelled backwards) was founded by a group of African American doctors,
lawyers, postal workers, and others. The club, officially incorporated in 1932, was patterned after the
more affluent white Detroit men’s clubs. The name was a reminder that while they recognized the
prejudice of the white society, they still considered themselves Americans. The club only admitted men
until 1998. While the neighborhood around it has deteriorated, the club exists to this day.
357
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(FRATERNAL AND SORORAL.) GRAND LODGE OF F AND A MASONS.
Negro Masonry. A Committee Report.
13 pages. Tall 8vo, original printed stiff, card-
stock salmon wrappers, stapled.
AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY
[Tacoma, Washington?], 1898
[600/900]
The Committee responds to “A Communication received from p[persons claiming to be ‘Free and
Accepted Masons of African descent,’ and alleging their legitimacy in that regard.” The Committee’s
Report, which was adopted by an “almost unanimous vote,” affirms “that Masonry is universal, and
that neither race nor color can legitimately be made a test of worthiness to share it mysteries.” The
Report explains the origin of the Negro Lodges in America, the first being a Revolutionary War lodge
founded by Prince Hall. The Report expresses impatience with feeble “excuses” denying Negroes and
their lodge’s equality of membership in Freemasonry, but acknowledges that a separate, rather than
integrated status best reflects American customs “in purely social matters.” Scarce: OCLC locates four
copies: NYPL, Natl. Heritage Museum, Yale, and UC Davis.
355